Under Pressure
by Cyprith
Summary: Eventually, something had to break. A fun Sarah/Jareth 100-prompt table.
1. Under Pressure

Title: Under Pressure

Author: Kytten

Pairing: Jareth/Sarah

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Don't own.

Summary: Jareth was just as determined to catch her as Sarah was not to be caught. Eventually something had break.

Author's Note: Have a great big writer's block from hell so I'm going to do another prompt table. Stole this one from Isaviel and changed a few. Hopefully she doesn't notice. XD Anyway, you know the drill. 100 prompts, 100 words each. Enjoy.

* * *

080. Under Pressure

The day started innocently enough. Sarah got out of bed as usual, grabbed a bagel on her way out and began her daily war with the rusted lump Karen insisted was really a car. When the engine turned over on the second try, Sarah grinned, feeling rather pleased with herself.

And then the radio started.

Sarah stared at it with wide eyes, feeling the bottom dropping out of her stomach. She _knew_ that voice.

_"Love's such an old fashioned word…"_

She shot out of the car a second later, scrambling across the yard and into the house without looking back.


	2. Haunted

015. Haunted

A week later, Karen declared the house haunted. Listening with one ear to her father's oh-so-logical counter argument, Sarah snuck into the kitchen, sturdy pillowcase close at hand.

Haunted, hell. This was a full-blown goblin infestation.

Which was funny. It'd been four years since she'd seen the arrogant bastard and suddenly the house was filled with goblins and he was singing on the radio. Her father could swear it was David Bowie all he wanted; _he'd_ never been kidnapped by the goblin king.

Springing over the counter, Sarah scooped a goblin into the pillowcase and grinned wickedly.

She had _plans_.


	3. Practical

005. Practical

Jareth was a practical man. You had to be if you dealt in goblins and politics every day. He knew what he wanted and he knew how to manipulate people into giving it to him.

Unfortunately, things with Sarah were never quite that easy.

She was _supposed_ to miss him and follow his goblins home at the first opportunity they presented. She was _not_ supposed to scoop them up in pillowcases and dump them kicking and cursing into the lake. To borrow an old favorite of Sarah's it _just_ _wasn't fair._

Ah, but then, the fight was half the fun.


	4. Spatula

074. Spatula

Sarah enjoyed goblin hunting. There was a deep satisfaction in sending the nasty beasties careening off into the lake. _Washing off all me good stink!_ they called it. She was rather disappointed when she threw the last goblin into the lake cursing her mother's back hair.

For a week or so, Sarah was thoroughly and completely goblin free. So she was understandable surprised when one weekend morning a goblin caught her dancing around the kitchen in her underwear, singing off key into an impromptu spatula microphone.

She was also understandably _enraged_ to find the goblin holding one of Jareth's crystals.


	5. Stupid

050

050. Stupid

Grekik was not a stupid goblin. He knew damn well when Jareth's sent him off into the Lady's house with a smirk and a crystal he was walking straight into the middle of Big Trouble. But walk he did because if nothing else, the Lady was prettier than the Bog of Eternal Stench.

It was only when he saw the look on the Lady's face he realized how wrong he was. He had not walked straight into the middle of Big Trouble. He had, in fact, walked straight into the middle of Certain Death.

Grekik dropped the crystal and ran.


	6. Plugged

094. Plugged

Sarah watched the goblin go, glaring daggers at his back as she stooped to pick up the crystal. There was only one reason she could think of a self respecting goblin would risk the Bath to come here. That one reason happened to be about six foot tall, blond and currently smirking like all hell at the other end of the crystal.

Smiling pleasantly into the little glass globe, Sarah held it up at eye level.

"Hello, Jareth," she purred and turned, dropping the crystal into the sink and listening with immense satisfaction as the garbage disposal set to work.


	7. Wasted

045. Wasted

Jareth laughed, watching the image of mushy food bits and spinning blades fade from the center of his crystal. That was a perfectly good crystal down the drain—literally—but it had been worth it to see the look on Sarah's face.

More than that, it had been worth it to watch her shimming around the kitchen in a tank-top so old it was nearly see-through and a pair of ratty boxers.

Distinctly _male_ boxers.

Distinctly male boxers that forced him into thinking about just which sorry bastard they might belong to.

Apparently, he had more competition that he'd planned.


	8. Over

006. Over

Sarah glared at the wall, irritated with life in general as she listened to the food disposal crunch through the last of the crystal. It shouldn't bother her that the goblin king had seen her dancing around her kitchen. Everybody danced around their kitchen. Hell, _he_ probably danced around his own kitchen.

Not that it mattered. She was _so_ over him. Little sixteen year old Sarah may have found him dangerously attractive, but she was an adult now. She'd been around the block a few times, seen what life had to offer.

So why was she still so damn flustered?


	9. Immortal

001. Immortal

Jareth stared into the crystal, torn been surprise and amusement. It appeared that Sarah actually thought that she—a twenty year old woman of questionable experience—could out-stubborn him—an _immortal_ with more years under his belt than she could easily _count_. Hell, in his younger days, he'd once spent an entire _century_ at apartyand she expected she could _outlast_ him? What a laughable plan! She couldn't actually expect to _ignore_ a stinking, festering, rampaging hoard of _goblins_.

And yet there she was, ignoring them so forcefully she walked _through_ them.

Well, two could play at this game.


	10. News

081. News

"It's a stupid idea, Sarah, an' that's all I gotta say."

Sarah stifled a smile as she looked through the mirror at her old friend.

"I don't see what's so stupid about it, Hoggle. If I ignore him, he can't get to me. Look."

Sarah laughed, waving a hand through the nearest goblin, but Hoggle only shook his head, glancing over his shoulder.

"He's all twisty, Sarah. He don't _think_ like normal people do."

"So?"

"So he thinks it's a _game_. He's been walkin' around _laughin'_ to himself."

But Sarah only shrugged.

"Let him laugh." She grinned. "I'm winning anyway."


	11. Fragrant

044. Fragrant

Two days later, Sarah left for her own apartment with a grin and a spring in her step. Visiting was nice, but she missed her home with its shaggy, dilapidated old couch, cantankerous TV set and vague smell of old perfume.

Whistling to herself, Sarah opened the door, stepped inside…

And made the mistake of breathing.

Someone, she decided as she staggered out into the hallway choking for air, was going to pay for this in a big, _big_ way. She wasn't sure how, and she wasn't sure when, but payback would most definitelybe one hell of a _bitch_.


	12. Searching

023. Searching

Oh, it wouldn't be easy, Sarah mused as she searched through the racks of a thrift store with an evil glint in her eyes. It wouldn't be easy, but it _would_ be hellishly satisfying. As far as plans went, it was fairly simple. But it was a simplicity Jareth wasn't counting on and _that_ was the important thing.

He'd never see it coming. He'd take it for granted such a thing was impossible. After all, no one beat the goblin king at his own game.

Pulling the most perfectly hideous garment off the rack, Sarah smirked.

No one but her, anyway.


	13. Quitting

011. Quitting

"Oh, would look at that," Jareth murmured to the toddler bouncing on his knee. "She's giving up."

Jamie was confused. He'd never seen the woman in the crystal before and while she looked like she might be nice, what he _really_ wanted was _his_ sister.

"I expected better from her, you know," Jareth continued, spinning the globe over his fingers until the image of frantic girl sprinting through an endless tunnel settled inside. "She was the only one to beat my labyrinth and she's giving up."

Jamie gurgled, reaching for the crystal. Jareth leaned back and sighed.

"Such a pity."


	14. Speed

030

030. Speed

Skilled in the way of goblin warfare, it didn't take Sarah long to find and capture another helpless goblin. Except the helpless goblin she captured was the last goblin she was expecting.

"_You!_"

Grekik trembled, acutely aware of both the Lady's glare and just how far off the ground he was.

"Me," he offered weakly. And then, with his best puppy-dog eyes. "Somethin' I can do you for, Lady?"

Sarah's resulting smile was far worse than her glare.

"You're going to do me a favor," she told him. "And speed is of the utmost importance."

Grekik swallowed hard.

_Oh, bugger._


	15. Stripped

026

026. Stripped

Once upon a time, Grekik had heard the saying, "Out of the frying pan, into the fire." As he made a habit of keeping the things in his frying pan _in _his frying pan, he'd never quite understood the saying. But now, standing in Jareth's closet, shoving clothing into his bag, the meaning became suddenly clear.

If a guard caught him inside the king's closet stealing clothes he was a Very Sorry Goblin.

However, if Sarah caught him _outside_ of the king's closet _not_ stealing clothes he was a Very Dead Goblin.

At least with frying pans you got _butter_.


	16. Cheating

027

027. Cheating

Jareth smirked at his empty closet, eyeing the single, hideous atrocity she'd left hanging there. He'd underestimated her. He'd been _sure_ she'd have to show up herself to cause him any more trouble. Thinking he'd won, he'd gone and made the crucial mistake of believing there was nothing else she could do.

So she'd gone and gotten a goblin to steal his clothes.

"Clever, Sarah," he murmured, fingering the hem of the eye-burning fabric. "Cheating, but clever. I admire that."

And then, with a devilish smirk, Jareth summoned one of his guards.

Turning the tables, after all, was only _fair_.


	17. Coffee Break

039

039. Coffee Break

Sarah paused in her typing, seeing an anxious little shadow darting in and out of the very corner of her vision.

"Hey, Sue?" she called, standing. "I'm going to take my coffee break now."

Halfway to the bathrooms, she found Grekik huddled in the hallway, wringing his ratty little hands.

"Did you do it?" she asked him. "You took his clothes?"

He nodded but continued to dance.

"It weren't my fault, Lady. I did everything you said."

Sarah crouched, frowned.

"So what's wrong?"

Grekik fisted his hands in his fur, making a face of pure agony.

"_He did_ _it_ _back_."


	18. Watermelon

041

041. Watermelon

There it was. The watermelon on acid cha-cha dress she'd bought at the thrift store… hanging all alone in her closet… and suddenly in her size. She'd bought it for two reasons—one, it was hideous, and two, it looked like it would fit a six foot tall fae. But now…

He'd added sequins.

He'd actually gone and gotten one of his goblins to take the dress in, cut off the sleeves and _add sequins_. As if the massive amount of cleavage it displayed now wasn't enough, he'd gone made it capable of blinding an entire ballroom.

Slowly, Sarah smiled.


	19. Whistle

084

084. Whistle

One hand on her mirror, Sarah whistled.

It wasn't just any whistle.

It was the Come All Ye In Desperate Need of Cookies whistle, and it didn't take long before Ambrosias galloped through the mirror, a bewildered Sir Didymus in tow.

"You called, my lady?" he managed, his loyal steed pulling to an abrupt, tail wagging halt.

"I have a bit of a problem, Sir D," she told him, gesturing to the open closet. "Jareth's run off with my clothes."

Didymus blinked at the closet. Even colorblind, that dress _burned_.

"If I may, my lady," he began. "What is _that_?"


	20. Toxic

024

024. Toxic

Locking herself in the bathroom with the toxic dress, Sarah did a thorough search of every cupboard and vent before she finally began to undress. For her brilliant plan to work, it was crucial this dress fit _perfectly_. But absolutely _no one_ was to see her like this…

Yet.

Jareth wanted her to wear it, so be it. She'd show him just how _beautiful_ she could be…

Loudly.

In public.

With everyone of importance watching.

Doing up the last zipper, Sarah smirked into the bathroom mirror.

"We can rebuild it," she murmured to herself, laughing wickedly. "We have the technology."


	21. Freak Out

013

013. Freak Out

Jareth reclined across his throne, watching the goblins as they milled around him, one eye on the crystal in his hand. It was hard to look Aboveground without another crystal waiting there to look through. Especially so as Sarah was disturbing good at finding and destroying his crystals. But as far as he could tell, this new… development hadn't bothered her. She'd simply taken the dress out of the closet and… gone off into another room. Gods only knew what she was doing in there, but it certainly wasn't the tantrum he'd been hoping for.

He'd have to try harder.


	22. Online

028

028. Online

Sitting in the very center of a pillow fort so that no one—whatever their vantage—could see the screen of her laptop, Sarah scrolled through the merchandise in half a dozen online stores.

Jareth thought he had outmaneuvered her. He thought he was just _sooo_ damn clever. Well, she had a _plan_ and it was going to be _perfect_. Stealing his clothing had been a little childish, perhaps. But this… _ooooh_ was this going to be good.

Grinning as she found the ultimate drag-queen tiara on the twenty-second website she tried, Sarah clicked to order.

Jareth was going _down_.


	23. Endangered

043

043. Endangered

Grekik knew what he was doing was stupid, but he didn't exactly have a choice. No one crossed the Lady. You did what she said Or Else, and when she said Or you knew you didn't want to find out just what Or Else _was_.

"I did like you said, Lady," he said, creeping into the bedroom. "I watched real good. No body saw me."

Grekik winced at her smirk. There were some times she looked _just like_ Jareth.

"And?" she asked.

"There's gonna be a big party thing," Grekik managed. "Day after the day after today."

And Sarah _grinned_.


	24. Mercy

079

079. Mercy

The day after the day after yesterday, Sarah struggled back into the cha-cha dress from hell, grinning like crazy all the while. Didymus hadn't had much trouble tracking down her wardrobe—goblins not being the best at hiding things—and a good washing had done away with the worst of the stink.

But this was _war, _damn it and Sarah was _not_ going down without a fight.

Teasing her hair until it stood up like an electrocuted rat's nest, Sarah ever so gently lowered the huge, gaudy tiara on her head and started in on her makeup.

_Show no mercy._


	25. Tongue Tied

089

089. Tongue Tied

Grekik squinted at Sarah, trying to see past the flaming watermelon of what he assumed was probably some kind of dress.

"You want me to _what_, Lady?"

He was trying to listen, really he was, but that dress was _screaming_ at him.

"I want you to _escort_ me to the party, Grekik." She smiled, showing _far_ too many teeth. "Can you do that?"

"The king—" Grekik stopped and reconsidered. Now was probably not the time to start arguing. Instead, he took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, Lady."

Sarah grinned and took his arm, stepping into the mirror.

"Wonderful."


	26. Watching

075

075. Watching

"_Hello, my darlings!"_

Jareth choked mid-swallow, nearly spraying the nearest elfin ambassador with a mouthful of wine. There was no mistaking that voice, but the woman at the top of the stairs _couldn't_ be Sarah. Never mind the flaming rat's nest on her head, or the _electric tiara _nestled there-in, Sarah wouldn't be caught _dead_ wearing the watermelon atrocity he'd left in her closet.

"Oh, _there_ you are, sweetheart!" she bellowed, flapping her hands at him over the crowd. "And you waited for me too! What a doll!"

"_Sarah_?"

Like a bog-belch, people around him began to whisper.

"_That's _Sarah?_"_


	27. Lipstick

Author's Note: I am still writing these, by the way! I know it's taken me like three eternities to get more up, but I've had writer's block from hell. College is sucking my brainz out through my ears. I'm hopped up on cold medicine though, so I should be alright for awhile. XD

067. Lipstick

Sarah wound an arm through Jareth's, somehow managing to worm her way even farther into his personal space with little effort.

"Now, don't be rude, darling," she trilled, reapplying her garish pink lipstick with a loud, wet _smack_ of the lips. "Introduce me!"

"Sarah," he growled, finding his voice at last. But she was off again without warning.

"Oh, hello!" she bellowed at the nearest ambassador. "I think I know you. You may bow down now if you like."

Torn between wincing and laughing, Jareth leaned back and watched the chaos.

He was, after all, known for his wild parties.


	28. Admire

032

032. Admire

"I admire your tenacity, Sarah," Jareth murmured in her ear once the evening began to slow.

Sarah grit her teeth to keep from jumping… or shivering… or something else equally embarrassing and turned to face the fae with a brilliant, megawatt smile.

"Just helping the party along, Jareth. The last one you invited me too was absolutely _miserable_."

He grinned at her in an entirely unsettling way, the suggestion of a crystal forming in the palm of his hand.

"Is that a challenge, Sarah? I'm surprised. You really should know better by now."

Sarah couldn't help herself.

"Bring it on."


	29. Sway

002. Sway

Sarah couldn't dance. Not really. Her mother had taught her ballroom dancing when she was little, but beyond a simple three-step, she had all the rhythm of a possessed slug. So Sarah couldn't help but laugh when Jareth bowed with that glitter of mischief in his eyes and asked her to dance.

He thought he could embarrass her.

_Her_—the woman currently flaunting herself in the middle of an entire country full of people, in a dress capable of waging nuclear warfare without any outside interference.

Sarah grinned. If he _really _wanted every bone in his feet broken that badly…


	30. Careful

061

061. Careful

Jareth, Sarah realized after awhile, was dancing badly _on purpose_.

_Well_, she thought to herself, trying not to look the insufferable fae in the eyes, _this is certainly interesting._

She'd known Jareth had a wicked streak a mile wide, but she'd never _really_ believed he'd stoop to her level. After all, she was wearing the Godzilla of all drag queen dresses to an important political function and he was acting as though this sort of thing happened all the time.

Hell, maybe it _did_.

Slowly, Sarah smiled. The Underground was about to become personally acquainted with the bump and grind.


	31. Engagement

064

064. Engagement

"Excuse me," a tall elfin man asked her as she was within groping range of the punch bowl. "Miss. Sarah?"

"Is there another woman here crazy enough to dress like this?"

The man smiled.

"I had assumed it was for a bet."

Sarah grinned.

"More of a dare, actually."

Laughing, the man nodded and stepped back.

"Wonderful. A good queen needs a sense of humor."

Sarah's brain seized on the word _queen_ and died.

"W…what?"

He laughed pleasantly.

"Forgive me for not congratulating you on your engagement sooner," he said, already fading into the crowd. "My manners often elude me."


	32. Endless Night

053

053. Endless Night

This was all a part of his plan, Sarah decided, staring at Jareth where he stood laughing with someone across the room. He wanted to get under her skin, to shock her into announcing something silly and childish like, "_But I'd never marry him" _and ruin the whole charade.

Well, she wouldn't do it. She was not about to let that smug, beautiful bastard ruin her ever so carefully crafted plan. He was going to announce their engagement? Fine. So be it.

She'd just have to act the part.

Hell, maybe she'd even get a ring out of the deal.


	33. Winners and Losers

**A/N: **I apologize for the complete lack of awesomeness that has been my corner of the internet lately. I was hogtied and abducted by the real world, but I'm on winter break now and should be able to finish this before I lose my mind and wander off again. Happy holidays!

092. Winners and Losers

Sarah slurped as loudly she possibly could from her thimble sized cup of punch, eyes flitting between party guests. Knowing Jareth, he'd probably announce their engagement to the entire room any minute now. Which meant that she needed to make her move and fast.

It had to be perfect. Something so horribly embarrassing, suggestive and downright _wrong_ enough to knock Jareth from his Throne of Smug. He thought he had this game in the bag. There he was on the other side of the room, smirking like… like a smug, smirking thing and Sarah…

Suddenly, Sarah smiled.

She had a plan.


	34. Crawl

054. Crawl

Sarah yelped and threw her punch into the air, dropping onto her hands and knees to peer between the sea of legs.

"M'lady?" a startled, splattered and decidedly stained ambassador managed. "What are you _doing_?"

"Looking for my escort!" she called back.

"Lord Jareth is—"

"No, _my escort_. My _very dear friend_, wink wink?" She paused in her exaggerated search to give the ambassador in question a knowing stare. "His majesty is very good at many things, but unfortunately lacking in certain… areas of expertise."

Sarah leaned in then, cheerfully departing the secrets of the universe.

"_It's a sock_."


	35. Stare

020. Stare

Jareth stopped halfway to making his announcement, realizing a good quarter of the ballroom was staring at him in the in the sneaky, speculative way of goblins trying very hard not to get caught at something. And in the middle of it all, spiking the punch and looking entirely too innocent and oblivious, was Sarah.

Picking up the first ball of fur that came to hand, Jareth held it up to eyelevel, glaring like a thunderstorm.

"_What_," he growled, "did she _do_?"

The goblin swallowed hard, trying and failing in a magnificent way to stifle his curiosity.

"It's a sock?"


	36. Electrified

038. Electrified

From the corner of her eye, Sarah saw Jareth watching her with equal parts anger and admiration. Overwhelmed by her own genius and barely managing to keep a straight face, Sarah reached up and flicked the switch on her tiara.

Immediately the mirrored walls lit up with a rainbow of strobe lights, bouncing acid-trip colors off the guests whilst playing Disco Inferno at an incredible volume.

"Over here, _darlings!_" she waved, flapping at everyone within flapping distance. "I've had the most _wonderful _idea!"

And here she paused to enjoy the look of absolute horror that crossed Jareth's face.

"Let's disco!"


	37. Sheltered

046. Sheltered

There were wild parties, and then there was Sarah.

Jareth leaned against the banister of the nearest stairwell, breathing through his nose and trying desperately to keep from laughing like a madman. That woman—and she most certainly was a woman, even in the hideous, eye burning atrocity she'd worn for the night—was possibly the most amazing creature it had ever been his pleasure to meet. Not only was she playing his game, but she was _good_ at it.

He rather suspected the poor, sheltered peoples of the Underground would never be the same again.

Heh.

Such a pity.


	38. Carefree

095. Carefree

This wasn't working exactly as she'd planned, Sarah realized, halfway through an awkward waltz-disco with her incredibly short escort. Jareth was over there on his side of the ballroom _laughing. _No, not laughing. _Chortling_. Sniggering. Chuckling in a slightly maniacal variety.

Evil son of a bitch, she decided as the batteries she'd taken from the remote to fuel her tiara died an abrupt death. It probably _was_ a sock and _he_ probably turned into a warty goblin toad thing at midnight. Well, thirteen o'clock.

Except watching him laugh like that, suddenly her stomach was all… _wobbly_.

Sarah blamed the punch.


	39. Vanish

060. Vanish

It was when that wobbly sensation persisted in returning, when Sarah found herself noticing things like the color of his eyes that she realized her escape plan needed to be put into action as soon as humanly possible.

"Stroll in the gardens, my lovely?" she managed, shooting Grekik as lascivious a look as she could manage considering. The partygoers parted like water for her and it was funny how studiously they didn't looked at her.

Which made stripping down to the jeans and tank top she'd been wearing underneath before jumping into a conveniently placed mirror just that much easier.


	40. Power

057. Power

Sarah groaned as she heaved herself painfully into the shower. She'd won anyway. That was the important thing. Jareth needed beaten every now and again to remind him of the whole _no power over me_ thing. If he thought he could send all manner of foul beasties into her apartment without her returning the favor, he absolutely had another thing coming.

Though next time she wouldn't go by mirror, she decided, looking up at the shampoo on the tippy-top shelf with the certainty that she would die of exhaustion if she had to move her arms.

Definitely _not_ by mirror.


	41. Paper

042. Paper

An hour passed in which Sarah stood under the steaming shower, using all the hot water in the building. Another hour passed in which Sarah filled the tub with all the hot water in the building and settled in for a good long soak. She was working on her third hour—using all the hot water in the building to have a nice long nap—when she noticed the bit of paper clinging to the shower curtain.

It said, in the flowery sort of calligraphy that even _looked_ expensive:

_I wouldn't have done that if I were you._

_Love, _

_Jareth_


	42. Anywhere

036. Anywhere

He was a slimy, rat headed bastard and she stuck to that with all the sticking power of industrial strength Bond-o. She bloody well _knew_ he wasn't done. There was no way in hell—especially after his little voyeur-in-the-shower note—that he was just _done_.

So why had everything just _stopped?_ There were no goblins in her apartment, no crystals in the ventilation system, no talking mold under the sink, no _chickens_ wandering around. There wasn't _anything_ out of the ordinary _anywhere_.

It wasn't bloody _fair_.

Well, she decided over a pint of ice-cream. Two could play at this game.


	43. Wine

022. Wine

On the first night of her incredibly brilliant and in no way jealousy fueled plan, Sarah went to a wine tasting with one of the boys in her theater troupe. They spent the night mocking everyone else there over little paper cups, muttering things like _fragrant, fleshy, _and _austere. _

And Sarah just _happened_ to bring the boy home and things just _happened _to progress in a horizontal direction, she just _happened_ to kick a crystal under the bed and just _happened_ not to notice.

Because purposely leaving it there to force Jareth into listening…

Well, that would have been _cruel_.


	44. Massage

021. Massage

The next weekend of her incredibly brilliant plotting, Sarah watched a goblin drop a crystal into her bag and forgot all about it with the force of will usually reserved for airline workers and covert Russian spy operations.

She then just _happened_ to book a massage with _the_ most attractive—tall, dark, handsome, straight off the cover of a harlequin romance—masseuse and enjoyed it _thoroughly_.

It didn't take long before the goblins started creeping in with _it-was-either-this-or-the-bog_ looks on their faces, each with a crystal.

Sarah grinned, insofar as a woman shaped puddle of sheer bliss could grin.

_Score_.


	45. Closer

077. Closer

She was tricky, he'd give her that. But _she_ had not spent two weeks defusing a potentially disastrous political situation induced by her apparent fiancé showing up to an invitation-only ball in a cha-cha dress from hell before insulting a great number of the other guests. All of whom—he might care to add were he feeling _especially _frank—were in possession of a great deal of power and more than enough inclination to start an Underground-wide war for much, _much less_.

Laying face down on his desk in a vast pile of papers, Jareth sighed.

He'd been _this close…_


	46. Museum

004. Museum

Sarah strolled leisurely around the museum, sketching the goblins every so often when they mimicked a statue, knowing full well her art teacher was looking for _classicals_. But she had bigger fish to fry at the moment and the biggest and blondest of all of those fish _wasn't doing anything_.

Granted, that was the sort of thing you were looking for when you were about to fry and eat a fish, but…

Sarah stopped and sat down on the nearest bench.

"I can't believe I just thought that," she muttered. "I have been spending _way_ too much time around goblins."


	47. Turning Point

078. Turning Point

Sarah sat on the bench for a long time, thinking to herself as the goblins cheerfully stole things from the tourists around her. Jareth, it seemed, had stopped playing. Which was all well and good—or should have been, anyway—because it meant she'd won.

But she wasn't sure if she even _wanted_ to win. She _liked_ the goblins, after all. She especially liked fighting with Jareth. Hell, they'd ended up _engaged_ somehow.

Although it was entirely possible that had been a joke.

Sarah sighed and wished she could pick between relief and disappointment. This half-way thing was bloody irritating.


	48. Sticks and Stones

003. Sticks and Stones

"What's wrong, Lady?" a voice from her elbow asked as the owner of said voice proceeded to crawl into her lap.

The goblin was too young to care one way or another about the dreaded Bath, still smelling as she did of someone's very expensive—very _missing­—_perfume.

"There's this guy," Sarah started, realizing the lunacy of the situation. "Well, elf… goblin… _thing_. Hell, I don't even know what he is."

The goblin snorted.

"That's easy. You get a stick. You hit him in the head. You take him home. An' I thought it was gonna be a _hard_ one."


End file.
